if you are using a barbarian or fighter, you have access to the highly useful circle skill, which stuns/confuses an opponent for around 7 seconds. So... a good way to prevent harm would be to circle-hit (and another hit if you think you can). but the thing of it is, you aren't guaranteed to succeed every circle you do. it's actually determined by your dexterity bonus (see the topic on stats), your level, and the opponents level, and if the opponent is flagged "un-circliable", in which case, you shouldn't waste your time trying to do so. this skill is particularly useful in a group without a stunner

next up, stunning...

Once you have completed the stun quest, you should get a few guidelines wired into your head. firstly, stun doesn't last forever, so you are not invincible (if a monster is unstunable then you need to rethink the challenge). using a mage, these are approximate guidelines on stun times

when i say cast, i mean an offensive spell like waterbolt, or fireball
According to my sources, the range is from 2-12 seconds.

-4 to -1 give 2 seconds of stun time. and neutral gives 4 seconds. None of these are enough subdue a monster for long enough to get a cast off, only a hit (cus hits and casts are on different timers)

with a +1 bonus, you should have around 6 seconds of stun time (stun cast ) to not get hit

with a +2 bonus, it should be around 8 secs ( sometimes it will be JUST enough stun cast cast )

with a +3 bonus, it can be around 10 secs (This will safely achieve stun cast cast. but not any more than that)

with a +4 bonus, it might be around 12 secs {i think}... (stun cast cast cast)

once you have finished the last cast, you can start the cycle again.

if you are playing another casting class, you should be careful as the stun may not last as long, and the cooldown (casting time) may require you have less casts between stuns. (for example a cleric takes 4 seconds to cast, whereas a mage only takes 3. with +2 int a cleric could only stun cast stun to not get hit)

if you learn the skills of circling and stunning it should be very easy to avoid harm, (provided you are careful of course)

Last edited by Mazil on Mon Sep 14, 2009 2:30 pm; edited 3 times in total

Um, actually the estimate for the 25 int is wrong, you will not be able to cast 5 times in between stuns without getting hit. heck with 25 i usually only cast 3 times to ensure i don't get hit. and on hasted monsters it is possible to get hit after the third cast.

i believe both of these monsters are not hasted. casts are done at the minimum wait time, by a 26 int mage.
point to demonstrate:
1. it is guarnteed to stun cast cast stun without getting hit
2.it is possible to stun cast cast cast stun without getting hit, but not guarnteed
3. it seems unlikely that there is a situation where it is possible, and certainly not guarnteed to be able to stun cast cast cast cast cast stun without getting hit.

I just realised this. When i started out with a barbarian i did this circle, circle, hit, hit. Therefore the more you circle the longer your opponent is rendered.. immobile. Hasted monsters recover from stun faster because they hit every 2 secs while we hit every 3 secs (except for hasted rangers). When you are stunned you take longer to hit but since a hasted monster only takes 2 seconds to hit it will hit earlier than a non hasted monster.